KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former employee of Kansas City’s downtown entertainment district alleges in a lawsuit that the district’s owners and others created disturbances so they could eject black patrons from the area.
Glen Cusimano, a former security liaison for the Power & Light district, alleges in his lawsuit that Cordish Companies and others engaged in several racially discriminatory practices.
He says he was ordered to have white men start arguments with black patrons so they would be kicked out of the area. The Kansas City Star reports Cusimano says the practice was used 20 to 30 times last summer.
Cordish, which developed the district, says the accusations are “complete fabrications” from an employee who was fired.
Cusimano is seeking $10 million in actual and punitive damages.
Author: Stan Unruh
Plane searched in Kansas City after threat report
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A possible threat on an American Airlines flight from Chicago to Kansas City prompted officials to evacuate the passengers and search the plane in a remote section of the airport.
The incident was reported Thursday night aboard Flight 4222, a regional jet flying from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport to Kansas City International Airport.
Airport and American officials were not immediately available Friday morning to discuss what prompted the response from emergency crews, or if anything was found aboard the airplane.
The 67 passengers and crew on board were evacuated from the plane and taken to a holding area.
Kansas City Aviation Department spokesman Joe McBride said in a news release Thursday that the aircraft was taxied to a remote location for the search “out of an abundance of caution.”
Student publication named as finalist for national award
The Northwest Missourian, with its sister publication nwmissourinews.com, has been named a 2014 Crown Award finalist by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA). Finalists will be named as either Gold or Silver Crown winners during the Spring National College Media Convention Friday, March 14, in New York City.
For the first time, The Missourian was recognized as a finalist in the hybrid journalism category, a category classified as a publication that works to combine digital and print publications. Last year, The Missourian was a Silver Crown winner in the print category.
Trey Williams, a senior journalism major from Independence, served as editor-in-chief of the combined edition. Williams is in his third year as editor-in-chief of The Missourian.
“At this point in my career as editor I sort of expect to be a Crown finalist,” Williams said. “If we are not, then we aren’t doing our jobs right. To be a Crown finalist lets us know all the hard work we put in is paying off.”
Steven Chappell, who has been student publications director at Northwest Missouri State University since August 2012 and serves as The Missourian advisor, praised the students’ work.
“Just being a Crown finalist is a rare feat,” Chappell said. “I’ve been advising college student newspapers for 21 years, and I’m always excited when my students’ hard work is recognized for what it is.”
Williams and Chappell, along with five additional students from Northwest Student Media, will attend the convention March 12-16 in New York. Williams will also serve on a panel discussion at the convention about diversity in college student newsrooms. Chappell will present sessions about internships, yearbook management and using social media as a yearbook promotions tool.
A total of 1,236 digital, newspapers, magazines and yearbooks published during the 2012-2013 academic year were eligible for judging in the 2014 Crown Awards Program. Entries were judged at Columbia University in December by a panel of judges that included journalism professionals and educators.
In addition to Northwest, the finalists include publications produced by student media at Ball State University, University of Miami, University of Oregon, Indiana University, The University of Alabama, University of Pennsylvania, Ithaca College, Iowa State University, Loyola Marymount University, Colorado State University, University of California-San Diego, Baylor University and University of Oklahoma.
The CSPA is an international student press association uniting student journalists and faculty advisers at schools and colleges through educational conferences, idea exchanges and award programs.
Two die in Thursday night head on crash
Two people were killed in a Thursday night crash in Pettis County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports the crash occurred at 10:20 p.m. as a 2005 Nissan driven by Eldon F. Coleman, 56, of Sedalia, became disabled in the southbound lanes of Highway 65 and Highway J. due to a prior crash.
This caused a 2000 Freightliner to strike the Nissan head on. Coleman and a passenger Melissa A. Coleman, 43, of Sedalia were pronounced dead at the scene.
The MSHP reported they were not wearing seat belts.
KC health commission expands anti-violence effort
By Mike Sherry
KHI News Service
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For several years, the Kansas City, Mo., Health Commission has tried to reduce violent crime by trying to stop its spread, as if it were a communicable disease.
The commission has focused much of those efforts on the Aim4Peace program, which among other things sends trained “interrupters” into the streets to curb the spread of violence by stopping retaliation.
Now, at the request of Mayor Sly James, the commission is broadening that contagious-disease approach to various other organizations trying to prevent violence in the city, including law enforcement, the courts, and nonprofits.
The commission has established a Violence Free KC Committee, which held its first meeting last week.
“I think presenting it as a contagious disease changes everybody’s conversation,” said City Councilman Michael Brooks, co-chair of the committee and a member of the health commission “It changes the approach, looking at it as a sickness, and not just bad people doing bad stuff.
“Our solution to that has been if we just lock up all the bad people, it will be OK. Well it didn’t work, so it must be something else,” he said.
Homicides in the city have exceeded 100 in each of the past five years, topping out at 114 three years ago.
But, Brooks said, the charge of the new committee extends beyond homicides to all violent crime.
According to the latest online figures from the police department, Kansas City had nearly 6,000 violent crimes in 2012, including murders. Aggravated assaults constituted roughly two-thirds of the crimes.
According to information distributed at the meeting, the committee’s four main charges are to:
• Discuss existing programs and their unique attributes
• Explore ways to collaborate, streamline, and/or combine services
• Identify service gaps and potential solutions
• Figure out how to measure the results of both individual and collaborative efforts.
Brooks said he anticipated the committee would provide quarterly updates to the mayor. Committee members agreed they would try to meet monthly, and there is no deadline for them to complete their work, Brooks said.
Members spent most of the first meeting describing what their organizations are doing to address the crime problem.
At the table were programs that have long histories in the community, such as Jackson County’s COMBAT anti-drug program, which started 25 years ago. Other groups are relatively new, such as Second Chance, which the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission started in 2008 to reduce recidivism rates.
Second Chance Director Ron Smith said his program aims to help ex-offenders obtain basic services, such as housing and employment. The focus is on high-risk offenders that according to the Missouri Department of Corrections have an 83 percent chance of returning to prison within three years if there are no interventions.
COMBAT Director Stacey Daniels-Young said that the drug-tax program has added anti-violence to its efforts. It now has a campaign to encourage residents to call a hotline to report criminal activity.
But Jackson County Judge John Torrence, the Family Court administrative judge, said committee members should focus on the lack of economic opportunity as the root cause of the violence.
“I don’t think we are going to get anywhere on this project until at least we talk about what really is causing all this stuff,” he said.
Somehow, Torrence said, officials must tamp down on the street drug trade that draws people through the profits it promises.
“Is it decriminalization? I don’t know,” he said. “Is it legalization? I don’t know. I’m not sure what the best approach is, but it needs to be talked about.”
And, he said, the committee should to bring in business leaders to emphasize that corporate leaders must play a role in dealing with problems in the urban core. Corporate America, Torrence said, is focusing too much on short-term profits and pleasing shareholders.
Brooks said he agreed that the committee should invite business leaders. But, he said, the committee needs a coherent plan before asking them for any financial assistance.
“I’d much rather have that approach,” he said, “than just saying, ‘We want you to throw some money at violent crime.’ I’m not sure we’ll get a response to that.”
Mo. Senate panel backs college meningitis vaccine
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Students living on college campuses could be required to get vaccinated against bacterial meningitis under legislation endorsed by a Missouri Senate committee.
The legislation would require all students in on-campus housing to have the meningococcal vaccine starting in July 2015, unless they seek a religious or medical exemption.
Meningococcal disease can cause an inflammation of the brain lining known as meningitis. It can spread among people in crowded places such as dormitories and can strike quickly with sometimes deadly results. Some symptoms can appear similar to the flu, including fever, headaches and neck stiffness.
The Senate health committee endorsed the legislation Thursday. The panel heard testimony two weeks ago from a former college student who suffered permanent disabilities because of the disease.
Missouri House Panel Endorses Gun Nullification Bill
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – A Missouri House panel endorsed legislation that would send federal agents to jail for enforcing some federal gun control laws.
The House General Laws Committee advanced the measure Thursday. It passed the Missouri Senate last month.
The bill would declare federal laws that the state considers infringements on gun rights to be null and void. Federal agents enforcing those laws could face civil penalties and be prosecuted for a new crime, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Courts have consistently ruled that states cannot nullify federal laws.
The bill would also allow designated school personnel to carry concealed weapons in school buildings. It now heads to the House Rules Committee before moving to the floor.
Missouri School for Deaf gets First Deaf Leader
FULTON (AP) – The Missouri School for the Deaf in Fulton has its first deaf superintendent.
The Fulton Sun reports that Ernest Garrett III has been selected to lead the school effective July 1 by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The school was established by state lawmakers in 1851.
Garrett is a St. Louis native who now works as executive director of the Missouri Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
In an email to the newspaper, Garrett said his appointment gives him the opportunity to be an example to the school’s deaf and hard-of-hearing students and show them that they can aspire to leadership positions.
Mo. father and son die in creek crash
A father and son were killed in a Randolph County crash on Thursday afternoon.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports a 2000 Pontiac Bonneville was westbound on Route EE, a half mile west of Moberly. The car ran off the road, struck an embankment, overturned and came to rest on its top in the water.
John Clardy, 31, and his 2 year old son Caeden were pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials say an autopsy will be performed on the bodies Friday.
Blunt, McCaskill Applaud Passage Of Resolution on Importance Of Biosecurity
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Claire McCaskill (Mo.) joined U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (Kan.) and Pat Roberts (Kan.) in introducing a resolution that was approved by the Senate this week to recognize the importance of biosecurity and agro-defense to America’s national and economic security.
“Further development of the Animal Health Corridor in the Kansas City region is the next step in bolstering our nation’s biosecurity and agro-defense,” said Blunt. “Farm families in Missouri and nationwide understand the severity that these devastating attacks could have on our food supply, the agriculture industry, and our national security. I’m pleased this resolution was approved by the Senate, and I will continue to advocate for further development of the Animal Health Corridor as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.”
“This resolution recognizes just how important biosecurity is to our country’s safety, and to the agriculture economy across the United States,” McCaskill said. “Strengthening our biosecurity starts with the completion of the facility in Manhattan, Kansas and continues with the further development of the Animal Health Corridor in the Kansas City region. I’ll continue to work with my colleagues to ensure we accomplish these goals.”
“The hardworking folks in America’s heartland understand that the protection of our region’s leading industry, agriculture, and of our nation’s food supply is of the highest importance,” Roberts said.“This resolution reminds our colleagues in Washington that addressing the critical vulnerabilities to our food supply and the agriculture economy must also be their top priority. Completion of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) is critical to the nation and to our states.”
“NBAF will protect our national economy by researching foreign animal disease threats, which have very real impacts,” Moran said. “It is critical that construction begins immediately to safeguard against these threats and the devastation they would cause. The cost of an outbreak far outweighs the cost of construction, not only in the loss of human life but also its damage to the animal and agricultural industry. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I will continue working to make certain NBAF remains a top priority for the Department of Homeland Security, the Administration and among Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle.”